Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League

From BR Bullpen

The Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League (KOM League) was founded after World War II and ran from 1946 through 1952 as a class D operation. Like many post-war leagues, it did not last a complete decade of play. During the seven year run of the league there were nine cities that represented the league. Four were from Kansas, four from Oklahoma and one from Missouri.

E.L. Dale was the League President for its entire seven year operation. The Ponca City Dodgers won three of the seven league titles. They were champs in 1948, 1950 and 1951. No other team was to win more than one crown. The attendance of the KOM league, in the seven year period, reached slightly over two million fans. In 1948 the league had its best year, drawing 387,980 paying customers through the gates, but as it was with most minor leagues at that time the people took to other interests and '51 & '52 proved too much for the league to handle and they closed their doors for good after the 1952 season.
The late 1940s and early 1950s was the Golden Age for minor league baseball. The National Pastime thrived in small town America with hundreds of professional teams in over 50 leagues playing at every level. The lowest rung of professional baseball—Class D, the “bush leagues”—was an exciting mix of returning soldiers and recent high school grads, all with dreams of climbing up the ladder to make it to the “big show.” Of the 1,588 young men who donned a KOM League uniform, 30 made it to the majors and one made it to the Hall of Fame.